


Baptism by Fire

by Loethlin



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Die Hard IN SPACE!, Gen, Origin Story, Pre-Mass Effect 1, Prequel, War Hero (Mass Effect)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-01
Updated: 2014-07-01
Packaged: 2018-02-06 21:20:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1872882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loethlin/pseuds/Loethlin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When batarian slavers attacked Elysium, someone had to do something. That someone happened to be Gunnery Chief Shepard. So much for shore leave.</p><p>Art by the wonderful Minque.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Baptism by Fire

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much to Iliya and Rob for all the encouragement and beta duty. You're both wonderful, I couldn't have done it if not for the two of you. Thank you.  
> Thanks to Fay, for the infinite patience she had with me talking about all of this, despite not being even remotely interested in Mass Effect. You're an angel.  
> More thanks to MEBB staff! This was my first Big Bang, and it was a wonderful experience. Thanks for letting us do the kick-off!  
> And, last but definitely not least, huge thanks to Minque, the wonderful artist, who picked this story from a myriad of others, and was so encouraging. You're awesome.

**## Rude Awakening**

 

The noises woke her up. Awful thumping that, in the haze of her sleep, she interpreted as another guest in the neighbouring room shagging someone so hard the bed beat on the wall.

She punched the wall weakly and muttered, “shut the fuck up,” with every intention of going back to sleep, but then a shockwave rattled the windowpanes, the bed, the walls and her.

With a start, Shepard ran up to the balcony door and pulled it aside. The strained glass shattered, sending billions of tiny pieces into the room, as another explosion struck. 

She fell to the ground, bits of glass digging into her knees and forearms.

Black and orange mushroom of smoke and fire was rising from where the lower courtyard of the hotel used to be.

She didn't have the time to think now, she just reacted. She dove for her pistol, checked it, turned the safety off and began to put her clothes on in the most efficient, mechanic way taught to her at bootcamp.

Terrorist threat. Thoughts were running through her head. Check for causalities. Secure the civilians. Deal with the insurgents.

She ran up to the door, but the ruckus in the hall stopped her dead. She clung to the wall, pistol at the ready.

The door flew out of its hinges and the most disgusting creature she ever had the displeasure of seeing stuck its head into the room, not noticing her. Four eyes or not, the batarians clearly had about the same peripheral vision as humans.

He was just about to turn in her direction, but she jumped him, grabbed his nasty four eyed head and pulled. The batarian tumbled into the room, letting out a deep grunt. She took aim. Pulled the trigger. She thought it took a long time, the way his blood and brain flew gracefully from the back of his skull was almost too picturesque.

She took advantage of the rush and kicked blindly, her knee digging into another batarian's solar plexus. This one didn't even get into her room. Out of breath, he stumbled back.

Almost unconsciously, she threw her arm out, her biotics flaring. The enemy flew up in the air, bouncing from the ceiling. She tossed a warp field at him and ducked for cover.

Clean smell of ozone was a sharp contrast to the bloody mess on the walls. Biotics, she thought, were not a disability.

Gory as it might've been, Shepard still searched the room for her first aid kit. Just eight counts of medi-gel. She glanced out the broken window. Judging from the amount of smoke and the distant shots and screams, eight counts will not be enough.

She was coming down from the adrenaline rush violently, shivering, tears rolling down her cheeks. She wiped them off. Just a natural reaction.

Almost as an afterthought, she grabbed the omni-gel from her bag and headed out of her messy, bloodstained room.

She wanted to send a message to the fleet. Maybe the Agincourt was still around? Maybe they could relay the message? But civilians were her first priority.

Looking down the hall, the gravity of the situation dawned on her.

She knew this particular hotel was not one of the favored spots for shore leave in the Alliance, but there were several fellow soldiers here with her anyway. 

Busted doors, smears of red and bullet holes adorned the walls of the corridor. Mostly civilian victims. The only person she recognized was Staff Lieutenant Evie, designated marksman, SSV Trafalgar. His body laid on the floor, dark crimson puddle under him beginning to cauterize. His preferred sniper rifle, the Mantis, laid several inches from his pale fingers. She picked it up idly and gently closed the eyelids over Evie's matted eyes.

The Mantis seemed not to be damaged.

Her fist thumped when she hammered on the door of the next room. Realizing how stupid it was, she gently knocked.

“This is Gunnery Chief Shepard, Alliance Navy,” she called. “There are no hostiles in sight. You can come out safely!”

There was no answer.

“I'm coming in, please do not shoot!”

She pushed the door open. It revealed a family of three, huddled in the corner of the room, pale faces, wide, horrified eyes. The little girl was cuddling a plush frog in her trembling arms.

Shepard lowered the rifle and dropped to one knee in front of them.

“Hi,” she said, in the most calming, secure tone she could muster. “I'm not going to hurt you. I'm here to keep you safe.”

Her voice almost broke. She doubted any of them were getting out of this alive. But these people needed some sort of support, so she ignored her fear and kept on talking.

“We need to find a safe place to hide from the batarians. If you'd just follow me, we all are going to be okay,” she said and rose to her feet, reaching her hand out.

Scared as she was, the girl glanced at her parents and took Shepard's hand.

 

 

**## Civic Duty**

 

Shepard was grateful for the completely ridiculous layout of the hotel.

Carved into the side of a low cliff, it offered a perfect view of the clear, crescent-shaped bay and narrow, sandy beach. Looking at the blueprints, she realized it was upside down, with restaurants and swimming pool on the very top of the cliff, floors descending to the beach below.

Staff facilities, where she was currently holed up with the whole thirty-two civilians she found alive, were the most secure spot in the entire complex.

The batarians seemed to relax. They were settling in, waiting for reinforcements, crowding around power generators they set up on the beach.

Her little perch was not a perfect spot, but it was hard to find and relatively close to the civilians' hiding place.

Shepard scanned the beach through the Mantis's scope. She started to appreciate this rifle more and more. As a biotic, she rarely had a chance to play sniper, always being delegated to the middle range to close quarter combat. She already took several of the attackers down, proving, if only to herself, that she was a good shot.

There was not much to do at the moment. Most of the batarian forces were engaged several clicks due north. From what she gathered from the radio chatter, she was all on her own, the secluded resort apparently being a breach in the line of the planetary defense system. There was no time to rage about idiots deciding to build a tropical paradise in the most insecure place of the planet. She suddenly realized why it was not popular with the Alliance.

She scanned the perimeter again. About a hundred of batarian pirates were roaming the beach, tinkering with their gunships, chatting in small groups and engaging in mutual weapon maintenance. They didn't seem concerned with the several patrols she managed to take out. She liked to imagine that it was because of their stupidity, but she knew it was because they had numbers and sent search parties to eliminate her and her civilians in return for their lost men.

Had she opened the fire at the camp now, in attempt to shoot as many four eyed goons as she could, they’d spot her immediately. It would cost her life, not to mention the lives of people hiding in the kitchen at the moment.

Below her and to the right, something glimmered in the pale moonlight. Shepard aimed the sniper rifle in the direction. On one of the vast, hanging terraces, a patrol of three decided to make a quick stop.

They were on the very edge of her biotics' reach. Slowly breathing out, she positioned the scope's crosshairs right between the lower pair of batarian eyes.

The force of the bullet ripped the head clean off the pirate's neck, but she didn't see it. Dropping the rifle, she concentrated, willing a glowing blue singularity to existence right between the two startled batarians. It was almost too far for her, almost out of range, but the singularity caught both enemies, tugging them violently in the air. It was exhausting, but she managed to produce a warp field and toss it straight at the event horizon. The resulting explosion was massive, obliterating the batarians, leaving them only as vague red mist.

She didn't fear being heard, so far away from the beach, but the blue glow of biotic explosion could've attracted attention, just like the patrol attracted her attention with the moon's reflection on a weapon.

She picked the Mantis up and retreated inside the building.

Civilians huddled in small groups in the kitchen. When she entered, she heard a collective gasp of breath and sudden stillness of people in the room, subconsciousness telling them to be still, despite being clearly visible in the severe lights.

When everybody realized whom just came in through the door, they seemed to relax and go about their business. 

A hand fell heavily on Shepard's shoulder, trying to turn her around. She was so high-strung, with steady flow of adrenaline pumping through her, she had no idea how she restrained her fist from connecting with the person's jaw.

Benjamin, one of the first people she dragged with her through the assaulted hotel, was a large man, whose tan complexion was now paled from worry into an ashen, sickly shade.

“Chief,” he said in a low voice. “What's going on? How long are we going to be stuck here?”

“I don't know, Ben,” she said, just as quietly, and shook her head. “The batarians fortified their position on the beach, brought some gunships. It's not going to be easy.”

“Let us fight, then!” his voice gained a steely note to it. “What can one person do against them? How can you possibly hope to do it alone?”

His hand was still on Shepard's shoulder, fingers digging painfully between bones and muscles. She gently covered his hand with her own and detached the offending grasp.

“Have you ever held a gun?” she asked. “Have you ever been in a gunfight? Ever shot a person? Do you know how to construct explosive devices?”

“No, but-” he tried objecting, but she cut him off.

“Look at them, Ben!” she the turned to the room and made a vague sweeping motion, indicating the kitchen. “They're all scared, just like you are. Some of them are hurt. None of you had any military experience. Most never held a gun and only thing you ever killed was a pig for Kalua. Do you think you can do a better job than me, protecting your family against a gross of those pirates?" she said, her own tone gaining a grating quality to it.

Ben slumped against the wall, hiding his face in his palms.

"I need you, all of you, to stay calm. Be there for each other and don't reveal our position. Take care of your family,” she said and patted his arm. “Can you do it for me?”

He nodded and sighed. “My little girl, Nora...” his eyes darted to the girl napping at the table, her head rested on her plush frog. “She's special, just like you. I saw you tearing those batarians with biotics. This was to be our last holiday before she goes to that boarding school...” his words trailed off.

“I'll talk to her,” she said, recognising this particular worry. Her parents had the same expression on their faces when her own biotics manifested. “When she wakes up. Right now, I must check on everyone. Are you going to be okay?”

He nodded and walked away, to where his wife sat.

Shepard smiled a tired smile and let herself relax, if only just a little. She understood Ben's frustration. She, too, felt helpless. Her plan was suicidal and she highly doubted she will be able to make it work, but maybe at least, she will take out some batarians and secure the civilians' survival until the Alliance takes the hotel back. But how long will it take? The night was almost through, perhaps three more hours before dawn.

She approached a far corner of the kitchen, where bits of tech surrounded a slumped figure.

“Any news?” she asked.

“Chief,” said Steve, scratching the back of his head and messing his hair even more. “I can't do it. I though I'm good with comm, but-” he sighed, shaking his head. “They block all the channels, I just can't do it.”

“Steve,” Shepard said, half begging, half warning. He was just a freshman, said he was studying communications. She wasn't sure if his self-deprecating demeanour was normal for him, or was this really too much for him.

“Sorry.”

“Don't be sorry, get it done. Any news?” She asked again. She really hoped he will understand how important this was. Not quite snapping out of his pity party, he turned on his omni-tool and played what he managed to unscramble. 

It wasn't much, but the transmissions suggested the Alliance was coming their way. Not fast enough. Judging by the preparations on the beach, by the time they'll get here, it'll be too late.

“Keep up the good work, Steve,” she said and left the student to his own devices.

Checking on the wounded was her least favourite part. Just the four of them sustained injuries and by a stroke of dubious luck, one of the people holed up in the kitchen was a paramedic. She gave Shepard a detailed report in an efficient, professional manner.

Shepard sat at the table, rubbing her tired eyes. Just a little more, just a few more seconds. 

Then, it's time to get to work.

 

 

**## Quit While You're Ahead**

 

Shepard was grateful for the small blessings bestowed upon her and her civilians. It didn't take long to for them all to gather small metal scraps, nails and other maintenance materials together. Even Chef Lundgren contributed to the effort, donating all his butane torches. Steve and Mary, a high school shop teacher, built some remote detonators. With their help, Shepard managed to construct several makeshift  mines, which were now safely hidden in her backpack. To her, the crude design only meant less things that could fail.

There was no narrow path leading to the beach. The crater that used to be the courtyard opened up right onto the sea and fine, golden sand. Shepard really had no idea why the batarians decided to blow it up. The casualities of the explosions were minimal, it offerend no tactical advantage and was not hard to cross for the goons. 

Shepard sighed, surveying the damage. The shockwave and debris obliterated the windows on the lower levels of the hotel. Handsome trees and shrubbery laid shredded in messy piles. Only one out of eight cabanas survived mostly intact, its roof sunken and one wall leaning in. It was not her style, such gratuitous destruction, but she figured it was a good scare tactic. 

There were not many places that offered cover on the ground level. Finally, she picked a reasonable route, along one of the cliffs. If everything went right, she would reach the batarian camp near the armory. Planting the explosives would be a whole different story.

If everything went right. 

She sighed. That was a pretty big 'if'. 

She was about to start her walk, when the severity of the situation gripped her. All the civilian lives were her responsibility now. And her plan, it was stupid. She should've just stayed holed up and wait the batarians out. Wait for the Alliance. But this was their command center and from what Steve managed to pick up from their radio chatter, the batarians sent out raiding parties. Disabling the command was very important, key even, to the Alliance. When they would show up, anyway.

Shepard shook off the dread and hopped out of the ground floor window into the shadow of the cliff.

The moon was full, casting an eerie, pale blue glow on the world. It offered little in terms of stealth, being that high up on the sky, shortening the shadows, throwing each movement into sharp relief. She tried to stick to the scarce nooks and crannies of the cliff, moving as low as possible between the several large rocks that littered this side of the beach.

She was just about to shuffle from the cover of one such rock and back into the relative safety of the cliff, when two batarians passed her, talking in their deep voices. They didn't look like a patrol, no weapons except for a heavy pistol each. They looked like they just wandered away from the camp. 

She didn't even make the decision to strike before her body decided for her. She snuck up behind one of batarians, taking a hold of his head where ears were supposed to be. The crack of a broken neck was hardly louder that her own heartbeat in her ears. Dead batarian dropped to the ground, leaving his friend exposed.

She registered the look of surprise on the second mook's face, and how his mouth started to open, no doubt trying to let out a shout. She deprived him of this opportunity with a punch to the voice box. He clutched his throat, all four eyes going wide with pain and shock. A blow to the shouler threw the pirate off balance and left him open for a chokehold, which she promptly applied, and held until she was sure the batarian was dead.

She leaned on the rock, trying to catch her breath. She was shaking, the steady flow of adrenaline in her blood making her restless and tired in a numb kind of way.

She got lucky this time. And it was easy. It shouldn't be this easy.

After that, she had no idea how she managed so sneak up to the pirate camp without being noticed. Stealth was not exactly her speciality. 

Just behind the rock formation she used for cover, the batarians set up a makeshift armory. Four gunships stood nearby, dark and still against the slightly brightening sky. Luckily, the batarians still seemed safe and relaxed, doing a whole bunch of nothing.

The armory was rather well equipped. She even found several landmines, more suitable to the task at hand then her IEDs. Shepard thought that grinning mischievously while arming all the deadly devices was not good conduct, but she had to admit, that leaving such a nasty surprise for the batarians to find when they would try arming themselves was fun.

Sticking to the shadows, she moved closer, trying to reach the vicinity of the ships. A group of batarians passed right next to a crate she was hiding behind.

Shepard tried very hard not to breathe.

It wasn't long before they wandered away, but the held breath burned her lungs before she dared to let it out.

Just two swift jumps between crates. 

Just one...

When she finally reached the first gunship's shadow, she felt relatively safe, hidden from view by it's massive body. She attached the stolen mine to the hull near the tank, and, as quietly as she could, proceeded to the next ship.

When the ships were all fitted with explosives, it was only a matter of retracing her steps back to the hotel and onto her chosen perch.

If everything went well.

To her immense surprise, everything did go well. Sneaking back to the hotel was easier than she thought it would be. She didn't encounter any more stray batarians, Elysium's blue moon started its descent behind the horizon, making shadows longer, darker, and easier to hide in.

Running up the hotel's stairs, Shepard allowed herself a little hope. Maybe, everything will be fine. Maybe, she did save everybody after all.

She tried pushing the hope out of her mind for now. The job was not done.

Shepard reached her little perch, a small balcony. She stayed low, pulled out all the detonators for the planted explosives and layed them out in order. Then, she laid on the balcony, bracing the Mantis against her shoulder, gazing through the scope at the batarian camp.

Then, she unleashed hell.

 

**## Wings Earned**

 

The Kodiak was rocking softly, morning breeze blowing through the open door and rustling Shepard's hair.

She didn't even notice when the Alliance forces showed up. All she remembered were a string of snapshots, explosions of her own making, sprays of batarian blood shooting from the bullet wounds that she inflicted, her biotics flaring weaker and weaker with every use over the course of the battle.

Then there was a hand on her shoulder. A calming hand, not an attack. She remembered turning around, noticing Alliance armour.

And that was it.

They told her she took out close to a hundred pirates that night, disrupted their chain of command and generally did a great job. All the Alliance had to do was to take out the raiding parties, which descended into chaos anyway. All her civilians survived.

That's fantastic, she thought, but now, all she really wanted was sleep. Adrenaline wore off, her limbs felt like lead and the morning sun warmed her face with prickly beams, making her long for sleep all the more.

She glanced around the Kodiak at the rest of its passengers. Steve and Mary huddled in the corner. Chef Lundgren and one of his waiters were helping Grace the paramedic dispense shock blankets. Ben and his family sat on a nearby bench, faces still ashen from fright. 

Ben noticed her looking.

She tried to smile, but she thought it came out more like a desperate grimace rather than anything resembling a smile. But Ben smiled back and nodded his head. Maybe in a thank you.

Suddenly, it was worth it. It was a horrible night and she knew it changed her, probably forever. But Ben's smile made it worth it. Lives of all of her civilians were worth being changed.

This time, her smile was much more genuine.

She closed her eyes and leaned against the wall.

Something was tugging at her elbow. Little Nora came over, still clutching that plush frog she had. Her violet eyes were wide and cute little brows frowned.

She put her frog in Shepard's lap and snuggled up to her, smiling a little.

Shepard stroked her hair, and muttered, "Thanks, Grasshopper", but little Nora was already asleep.

A pilot came into the shuttle and disappeared into the cockpit. Kodiak's engine hummed into life.

Shepard's last thought before finally letting herself fall asleep was, "Yep, definitely worth it".

 


End file.
